


He Worked for this

by TrashDoveStuff_Liv



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Pre-Canon, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23655919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashDoveStuff_Liv/pseuds/TrashDoveStuff_Liv
Summary: It took consistent efforts and truckloads of patience, but Beck Oliver was finally able to win her over. As their relationship grows more serious, he finds that being Jade's boyfriend might not actually be easier than wooing her was. She's unpredictable, and he loves that even though it scares him sometimes.A Bade fluffy, angsty oneshot about the early stages of their relationship in ninth grade.
Relationships: Beck Oliver/Jade West
Comments: 7
Kudos: 97





	He Worked for this

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Thanks for coming to check this out, I hope you like it. If you've at all been reading my other fic "You didn't have a happy childhood?" then there are some light spoilers here, but not really. If you haven't read my other work and you're looking for some angsty childhood stuff, then you can check it out. Happy COVID, keep sane!

The first time he asked her out she looked at him, glaring, and told him to ask her again in a week. So he did.

She said, “Ask me again in another week.”

They did that for almost three months before she finally said yes. Every week she’d get a little more playful. She’d smile a little longer when he’d ask, and she’d soften a little more each time she told him to wait another 7 days. 

Their first date was in April, back in 8th grade, and they were now both a month into high school. He’d asked her to be his girlfriend twice already. 

The first time was in June, and she’d been annoyed at the question. They were in the hallway outside of their graduation dance, kissing up against the wall. He liked kissing her like this, and he wanted to know he was the only one that ever did. So he asked her. She said something about not wanting to put a label on it, and “Look do you want to make out or not?” 

The second time was in August. Nothing special happened, but they’d had a really nice evening and the moment felt right. They’d be freshmen in a few days, and it made sense to start the school year off with clear expectations of their relationship. She was quiet for a bit, considering it.

“Not yet.” 

So they started at Hollywood Arts as just friends. 

Beck went to all the parties. He had made at least two friends in each of his classes, and always had something to do on the weekends. People knew him, they liked him. He was popular from day one.

She got as many invites, sometimes more. She’d been cast as Alice for the school’s end of year production. It was rare for ninth graders to get a part at all, let alone the lead. Everyone knew who she was, even the seniors who hated her for taking the title role in their final year. She turned down most of the invites she got; she hated parties. 

But sometimes, she’d go just to hang out with him. It was unusual to see him not in the centre of the party, and it was weird to see her laugh so genuinely. They defied other’s expectations of them when they were together. So often, they’d be tucked away in the corner of the room, lost in their own little world. 

Everyone saw it coming. No one was surprised when they officially announced it on the slap. Some people were disappointed. A lot of the girls (and a few of the guys as well) were discouraged to log onto the social media page to find that Hollywood Art’s #1 crushable guy was suddenly taken, but no one was shocked in the least. 

He smiled, embarrassed and elated when people congratulated him.

When people asked her about it, she glared at them and told them to fuck off. 

People assumed she’d finally said yes after he’d asked her a third time. But, she’d asked him. It was after one of their “not really dates” because they “weren’t really dating” and they “weren’t a couple”.

They were in his room while she waited for an appropriate time to leave for the bus stop. Not making out or anything, just lazing about and talking. The question came out of the blue, and it took him a second to be sure he’d heard her right. One minute they were talking about their math teacher, and then without any segue, she asked: “do you want to be my boyfriend?” 

“Yes,” he was maybe a little quick in his response, but his excitement made her smile.

It was hard for them to see each other outside of class: they had conflicting rehearsal schedules. He’d been cast in a play outside of school and had commitments on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Her Alice rehearsals were Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 

So they’d hang out on Thursday nights, usually working in the rehearsal space at school because it was the only spot they could get to that gave them any privacy. He had yet to visit her house or meet her parents, and she was firm that it would be “a long time” before either would happen.

So her house was not an option and neither was his. His parents hated her, and there had been many arguments since he told them that he and Jade were now an official couple. Being at his home made her uncomfortable, and he was not allowed to close his door if she was there. 

Beck would tell them that he was helping Andre with a song. A lie that his best friend always covered for if asked. 

Jade didn’t tell her mom where she was going, or with who, or when she’d be back. She’d just come home past curfew, dismissing her mother’s concerns with a joke about how they’d talk about it in therapy. 

They endured 3 months of relative bliss before their first major fight in January. 

It was during one of their Thursday dates in the black box which was currently unoccupied except for the two of them. He was laughing at her spot-on impression of his dad who he’d just been complaining about. He loved that about her, two minutes ago he’d been stressed and ranting about his parents and their micromanaging, and now he was laughing like none of it mattered. 

Because none of it did, he was with her. He gazed at her, this girl he’d finally won over somehow, and couldn’t believe his luck. Sure, he’d worked for it, he’d been patient because he knew she was worth it. 

She caught him looking at her with that intense gaze that she sometimes noticed. It made her heart skip a beat and she felt like melting into him. It was terrifying. “What?” 

“I love you,” He hadn’t been planning on it. They were still so young and he knew that his parents seemed to think he couldn’t possibly “love a girl like that”, but he did. He couldn’t imagine a better time to tell her. 

The smile disappeared from her face, but her eyes were soft when they locked with his. He really thought she was going to say it back.

“I have to go.”

And without another word, she got up and left him in the black box alone. Of course, he followed her, trying to fix this so it wouldn’t be a problem He caught up to her at the main doors.

“Wait, Jade!” 

She turned to look at him. Her hands were clenched into fists and he could barely make out that she was shaking. Concern about her abrupt leaving melted away. He reached out to try and comfort her, but she lurched away from his touch. 

“Leave me alone” 

“What’s going on?”

“I said leave me alone, Beck,” she growled. Everything about her in this moment terrified him. 

“Can we just- Jade, what’s going on? Talk to me.”

She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes. They were standing only a couple of feet apart, but he’d never felt farther from her. She wouldn’t even let him reach out to hold her. When she’d exhausted her exhale, she opened her eyes and looked at him. He tried desperately to read her, but couldn’t.

“I’ll text you when I get home.”

“But what’s going on?”

“I’ll text you when I get home.”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m FINE,” she winced at the way she’d almost shouted that last word, “I’ll text you when I get home.”

Everything about the way she looked screamed at him to not let her go. But he did. 

She didn’t text him that night. She wasn’t at school on Friday. She didn’t answer the phone when he called. 

By Sunday, he still hadn’t heard from her and was absolutely terrified. And a little bit angry. She couldn’t just do this to him, leave him in the dark with no explanation of what he’d done wrong. He went to the school where she’d be rehearsing until 5, and waited. But when the cast came filtering out of the school, he could not see her. He asked her understudy if she’d been there.

“No, awol the last two practices, said she’s sick,” Penny, a junior, was one of the people who were highly unimpressed by a freshman being cast as the lead. “That’s what you get for casting a freshman-” 

But he didn’t let her finish, he was already walking away. He called Cat. The two were friends, kind of, and even though no one understood that friendship, he knew it was important to Jade. Cat didn’t know where she was, told him to check her house.

“I’ve never been to her house.”

“Oh...uhm….” she trailed off, voice airy as ever.

“Cat, I need to talk to her.”

She gave him the address and he wasted no time in getting there. It was a nice neighbourhood, upper-class suburban, and too boring for him to really imagine his girlfriend living here. If she still was his girlfriend, he wasn’t sure. 

Hers was neither the largest nor the smallest house on the street. It was somewhere in the middle, and very clean. There was a convertible in the driveway, and maybe if he hadn’t been so annoyed with her, he would have stopped to inspect it. He rang the doorbell.

The door was answered by a very young child. He couldn’t have been more than 4 or 5, and he had Jade’s nose. Beck didn’t know she had a little brother. 

“Moooooom!” the boy called into the house, and very soon there was a middle-aged woman standing in the doorway. 

She was dressed for the weekend, but somehow still impeccably fashionable. Her blonde hair and green eyes made it difficult for him to believe that this was Jade’s mother, but the woman’s smile was the same as the one he’d sometimes been allowed to see. She sent the boy back into the house and asked: “what can I do for you?” 

He was aware that this was the first time he was meeting Jade’s family, and it made him a little nervous. “Hey,” he wasn’t sure where to go from there. It seemed incredibly bold to show up unannounced and demand to see his girlfriend, and that certainly wouldn’t leave a good impression. He settled for a quick introduction, “I’m Beck.”

“You must go to school with Jade. I’m Ellen, I’m the mom,” she shook his hand. 

“Uhh, yeah.” It stung a little. Evidently Jade had not told her family about him or their relationship. Still, he had a task on his mind. “Is she around? Can I talk to her?” He noticed the way Ellen raised an eyebrow knowingly, Jade did the same thing. “We have this project to do.”

“No, she’s at her friend Cat’s this weekend.”

His heart sped up, and his annoyance melted away, replaced now by panic. Nobody knew where she was. 

Ellen must have seen the look on his face because her tone shifted and she asked: “you’ve already checked with Cat, haven’t you?” 

He nodded, afraid to vocalize what this meant. 

“Look, honey, why don’t you come in for a bit. I’ll get you some water, you look like you need to sit down.”

“But Jade…”

Her eyebrows were stitched together, but she was smiling in an attempt to be reassuring “It’s okay. We’ll get on that. You look like you need a drink. Did you buss here? Do you want me to call your parents?” 

Even though he was concerned about doing something so normal as getting a glass of water in a moment like this, he followed Ellen into the house. She led him into a large, bright living room, and told him to make himself comfortable. “And I’ll be right back with some water.” 

He nodded, but before she left, she looked at him, “seriously, honey, you should sit.”

Which he did at her instruction. The young boy peered from around the wall, and Beck waved, smiling a little. This seemed to take away the apprehension the child had, and he smiled back wide and bounded into the room. 

“Who’re you?” 

“I’m Beck,” he did his best to put his concern on hold while the child was around.

“Ooooooh,” the boy said, excited. Then he lowered his voice “are you Jade’s BOYfriend? 

He laughed in spite of the situation “Yeah, I am.” 

“She didn’t tell us she had a boyfriend,” Ellen was back with a glass of ice water. There was a lemon wedge in it, he took it and thanked her. She sat down on the couch opposite him, a glass coffee table between them. "But that's not surprising," The boy hopped up beside her, looking expectantly back and forth between Beck and Ellen.

“ Owen, go play with daddy for a bit. Tell him Jade isn’t at Cat’s.” 

“Where is she?” There was a sense of urgency in his voice.

“Oh don’t worry baby, she’s at her dad’s.” 

Owen nodded and went upstairs, leaving Beck alone in the living room with Jade’s mom. 

Beck took a sip from the glass and found that he was actually very thirsty. He took several deep gulps and thanked Ellen again for the drink.

“Do you want more?”

“No, I…” he trailed off trying to refocus on Jade. “So she’s at her dad’s? Where’s her dad’s?” He hadn’t known her parents were divorced. “I kind of need to talk to her.”

Ellen gave him a sympathetic look. “Look, Beck, you seem like a very nice boy.”

He wasn’t sure that was a compliment.

“Don’t worry about Jade right now.”

“I just want to talk to her about some things. Do you have her dad’s address? If she doesn’t want to talk to me, I’ll leave, but…”

“Honey, she’s not at her dad’s,” Ellen shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be back soon.”

He blinked several times to try and make sense of what he’d just heard. How was he supposed to not worry when no one knew where she was? “What…” he smiled nervously, still hoping to make a good impression, “what do you mean?”

“She does this, sometimes,” she smiled, but it was sad. “It’ll be okay.”

“But where is she?” 

“I’m sorry you got caught up in this. Try not to let it worry you too much.”

“I just want...I just want to talk to her.” He repeated to himself.

“Look, I love my daughter,” Ellen let out a low sigh, her voice trembling ever so slightly. “And I don’t want to see her get hurt...but maybe you should think about whether you really want to be with her.” 

“Of course I do,” he said, reflexively. Offended by the suggestion. 

“Well, then, she’s lucky to have you. Do you want me to call your parents? Do you need a ride home?” 

“I just want to talk to Jade…”

“She’s never gone for long.”

But that didn’t sit well with him. What if something happened to her? Or what if she was hurt somewhere, and she needed him, even if she didn’t want him. 

Ellen drove him home and exchanged small talk with his parents. He went up to his room almost straight away, texting Jade even though he knew she wasn’t likely to reply.

-Where are you? We don’t need to talk about Thursday, I just want to know you’re safe.

His dad came up a few minutes later. “Lovely woman. Don’t know how her daughter turned out like that, but anyway.”

He rolled his eyes, frustrated by his parents and their unrelenting disapproval of his relationship. 

“I don’t know what’s worse,” he sighed, still not done with the Jade-bashing “That attitude or the fact that she seems to take up an awful lot of your time. Even though you know your mother and I don’t-”

“Could you just lay off her for five minutes?” he snapped. “Sorry, it’s just… you don’t even know her.”

“And you think you do?” 

“I love her.”

“Beck, you’re a kid. You don’t know what that means.”

“Yes, I do.”

“She’s… look I’m sure she’s great. But she’s damaged goods, son, and I don’t want to think about her pulling you down.”

“I can’t listen to this right now,” he grabbed his phone charger and a sweater and got up from his bed, crossing the room.

“Where are you going?”

“The RV.”

It wasn’t the first time he’d slept in there instead of his room. Sometimes, he went out just for the novelty of it. He stared at his phone, his last text to her still unopened. Andre sent him a video and a few texts about a new song he was working on. He didn’t watch the video but had enough decency to text back “sounds great” about the melody he heard. 

He couldn’t sleep that night. He sent two more texts and called her once, only to be dropped before even hearing her answering machine. She was hanging up on him 

He skipped school on Monday. Going to places he thought she might be, even though he had no idea where to begin looking in a city this size. She could be anywhere, and the chances of him running into her by accident were slim to none. 

He knew of a few places she liked to go. She had favourite spots all over and he visited each of them, growing slightly frantic when he still couldn’t find her. He thought back to the places they’d been together, and there was one that he’d forgotten about from over the summer. 

The ride there had taken almost three hours. Switching between busses and waiting in traffic. It was her idea. She’d called him up unexpectedly, but he didn’t have plans, and he loved getting to spend time with her. She told him it was the best place to spend summer evenings. 

So that’s where he went. Not sure if he’d have to take 3 busses back in almost as many hours, but not really caring if he did. 

It was just an area full of abandoned condos that were boarded up or smashed open from kids throwing bricks through the windows. The walls had all been tagged by so many different street artists, that almost none of the original brick was showing underneath layers of paint. She told him she liked coming here. That she thought the place was cool.

But the way she took it all in, at the time he could tell that she was opening up to him. Showing him a part of herself that was important. She never just told him things, he had to interpret the meaning behind her glances at the graffiti. 

It wasn’t the safest place to be, and he privately hoped he wouldn’t find her here, alone. He couldn’t tell if he was witnessing a drug deal or just a very friendly exchange involving a bag of sugar, but he assumed it was the former. He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed away from the bus stop in the direction of the condos. He tried to look like he belonged there, to avoid drawing any unwanted attention.

When he’d come with her, she told him she thought it was cute that he looked so nervous.

He walked around the condos, some of the graffiti was new, and there were a few new broken windows. A couple had been broken into, and he hoped not to run into any squatters that weren’t his girlfriend. 

“I forgot I told you about this place.” 

He was startled by the noise but relieved at the same time. He turned his head upwards, because that’s where her voice had come from, and there she was. Sitting on the roof, hidden from his approach by the slope but now parallel to him. An overwhelming sense of relief filled him as he finally sighed out the tension he’d been holding onto. 

“I get up here through the upstairs bathroom.”

He didn’t need further instruction. It felt odd walking through an abandoned home, but he made his way up the stairs and out onto the roof to join her. 

She was listening to something on her phone and didn’t acknowledge him as he sat beside her. He didn’t say anything either, waiting for her to break the silence when she was ready. When she offered him one of the earbuds, he took it, and they listened to her music together. She leaned into him, and he draped his arm around her to hold her against his side. It was as if nothing had happened. Like they weren’t on the roof of an abandoned condominium 2 hours south of the safe parts of the city. 

“People don’t usually try to find me.” 

He let her words hang in the air for a bit, trying to figure out what she wanted him to say. “Yeah, well…” he gave her a one-armed squeeze. He didn’t need to say he’d been worried, or that he was glad to see her, or that he loved her. She knew that already. 

She laughed dryly, a single dark chuckle. “I should get you home. Your dad’s gonna bug out.” 

He twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile. It was true, he was going to be in a lot of trouble. “That doesn’t matter right now.”

They were silent for a while longer, then she shot away from him, tearing the earbuds out. “Shit! You have rehearsal…”

“Jade..”

“You’re missing it.” 

“Jade.”

“This is like a real play, you can’t just…”

“It’s fine.”

“But.”

“It’s okay. I told the director I think I’ve got strep. She wasn’t happy, but she seemed to think it was a good idea for me to go to the doctor,” his arm wasn’t as wrapped around her as it had been before she’d pulled away. But he still had a hand resting on her shoulder blade. He drew small circles there until she leaned into him again. They sat in silence. Beck had a million questions at the forefront of his mind, but he could tell Jade needed this quiet more than he needed answers. So he just held her. 

She pulled away from him so she could look at his face. “Did you mean it?”

He knew what she was asking about, he didn’t need clarification. Had he meant it when he said he loved her? “Yes”

Her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second in thought then shook his arm off of her shoulder gently. She pulled her knees into her chest and looked out at the sky, now burning gold in the sunset. “You shouldn’t, you know.”

He set a hand on her knee and squeezed it. “Oops.”

She laughed again, still dry but with a touch of genuine amusement this time. She was still smiling when she turned to look at him again, but it faded slowly. Her eyes were shinier than usual and he wondered if she was going to cry. “I don’t know how to do this.” 

Beck took his hand off her knee and held her cheek. He thought he could feel her pressing into his palm, but it was so light that he couldn’t be sure. “We can figure it out. I mean, as long as you don’t run away from it.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

“So, don’t,” he smiled when he saw that she was softening. That the corners of her mouth were twitching ever so slightly upwards.

It didn’t last long, she wrapped her fingers around his wrist and brought his hand away from her cheek. “I can’t promise that I won’t. I don’t want you to hate me if I do.” 

“Jade,” he said it so quietly that it was almost a whisper. Her hand was still on his, and he moved so he was holding it, running his thumb along her skin. “I’m not afraid of this.” 

Her eyes locked with his, and she was impossible to read. Then she closed the distance between them and pressed her lips into his. It was slow, and gentle, not at all like the forceful and passionate kisses he’d grown accustomed to from her. This was was tender, sweet, and he loved it just as much. It was also very quick. 

“You’re sure?” 

“Yeah,” he was smiling from the warmth of her lips, wanting to spend the rest of the evening with her kissing like that. “Yeah, I’m not scared.”

She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes like he knew it could. “I…” but she closed her mouth again and pressed her lips together. “I...can’t say it yet.”

“That’s okay, whenever you’re ready,” he started fiddling with her fingers the way he knew she liked. 

She nodded and kissed him again. Slow and gentle like she just had, but it lasted a lot longer and grew more passionate. She tangled her fingers through his hair and he brought his hand to her waist. 

Her stomach growled, then he pulled away. 

“When was the last time you had something to eat?”

“I dunno. Saturday night maybe?” 

“That’s it,” and he stood up, offering a hand out to her. 

“What?”

He had to reach down to grab her hand since she wasn’t taking his, and he pulled her up. “I’m taking you to get some food.” 

They bussed into a better part of the city, one that made him feel safer. He knew she didn’t like restaurants, but he found a casual dining place with pretty decent sushi. He told her about his last rehearsal from Saturday and ran through his lines from the scene he’d been working on. Quietly, so as not to disturb other diners, but with the intended emotion where it was possible. He told her about how he waited outside the school for her on Sunday, assuming she’d have been rehearsing.

“I’m sure Penny was hoping I’d stay sick.”

“No, she...she was really worried,” he thought back to the understudy, who seemed to think that Jade being a freshman was a real problem.

“You’re a terrible liar.” 

He stuck his tongue out at her, and she was quick to copy the gesture. 

She promised him he’d see her at school the next day.

And answer his texts.

And pick up the phone. “But what if I’m in the shower?”

“Call me back, please,” they were at his bus stop, hers was across the street. “I want to know you’re okay.”

“God, you’re needy,” she sighed, but there was no venom in her voice.

They didn’t talk until his bus came, then he said goodnight and she held onto him for a little longer while the other passengers boarded. “Beck.”

“Yeah?”

“Say you love me.”

He looked at her, bewildered by the complete rollercoaster that was dating Jade West. But he smiled and kissed her quickly on the cheek. From there, he moved his lips to her ear and whispered: “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you liked or didn't. I don't usually ship Bade, so I'm still trying to find a feel for them together in my own writing. If you hate Beck in this, then at least I know to do some serious character overhaul before introducing him in my other work
> 
> Thanks again!  
> -Trashdove


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